Blue Swede were a Swedish rock band fronted by Björn Skifs which was active between the years 1973–1979. Blue Swede released two albums of

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s, including a rendition of " Hooked on a Feeling", which brought them international chart success. The band consisted of Anders Berglund (piano), Björn Skifs (lead vocals), Bosse Liljedahl (bass), Hinke Ekestubbe (saxophone), Jan Guldbäck (drums), Michael Areklew (guitar), Jamie Bethune (Cymbals) and Tommy Berglund (trumpet). They disbanded after Skifs decided to embark on his solo career.

Career

Blue Swede was first formed in 1973, when Björn Skifs, a top vocalist in Sweden, was looking for a band to accompany him during his concerts. The band was originally called "Blåblus" (Swedish for "blue blouse"

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a pun on the word "blues") and featured Skifs singing the lead vocals. The band got their international breakthrough in 1974 with their cover of the 1968 B. J. Thomas song " Hooked on a Feeling". Blue Swede recorded Thomas's song in 1973, but based its rendition of the song on a 1971 version released by British pop eccentric

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, which created the "ooga-chaka" introduction. Blue Swede released "Hooked on a Feeling" in Sweden in May 1973 and in the United States in February 1974. The song reached number one in the U.S. for one week in April 1974 and stayed in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart for 18 weeks. The track also topped charts in Australia, Canada, and the

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, where it reached a peak chart position of 26. To capitalize on the success of the song, Blue Swede released an album of the same name that same year. Throughout the rest of 1974, two follow-up singles from the same album were released: "Silly Milly", which peaked at position 71 in the U.S., and a cover of

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's " Never My Love", which made the Top Ten by peaking at position 7. From the band's 1974 follow-up album, ''Out of the Blue'', they recorded a

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' song of the same name), peaking at position 61 in the U.S, and achieving its greatest chart success in

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. Skifs left the band in 1975 and the band continued as Blåblus, releasing a further two albums.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Notes

References